California represents all the best and worst about America. It’s big, wide, varied, has so much opportunity. It’s crime-ridden, choked with suburbs, stuffed with silicone, sitting in gridlock traffic and tanned to a golden brown. It’s harsh and unforgiving. It’s laid back and easygoing. It is the multicultural face of this country, from East L.A. to Beverly Hills, from Orange County to South Central. It has mountains and deserts, snowy peaks and a surf break that is legendary. There is everything to love and hate in California. I choose to love it. All of it.
Welcome to the jungle, indeed.
I arrived at my third Long Beach Scuba Show on friday morning via LAX. I had to chuckle as I landed - the last time I was touching the runway here was on my way to Australia to continue the next leg of filming for the new high-definition DVD for Explorer Ventures. This time around, as the wheels engaged and I was politely asked (for the 9th time) to put my seat belt on and straighten my seat back cushion, Nick Lucey and I were trying our best to decompress from a furiously productive creative session for Into The Drink.
Nick met up with the rest of the Scuba Diving Magazine cartel when we left the terminal and I chose to spend some time in the Silver Lake section of LA with my best friend whose wedding party, incidentally, I cannot be in because I’ll be in Turks churning out some cutting-edge television for the masses. It’s one of those moments that I’ve come to sadly accept as part of what I do for a living, the inability to be present at crucial moments in the lives of the people I love the most. I am lucky that those same people not only forgive me my absence, they support me with a can-I-give-you-a-ride-to-the-airport enthusiasm.
One of my favorite things to do when I’m at Nate’s house is to wake up early and sit on his veranda that looks over the city and watch it come alive as the sun rises. Los Angeles is no less busy than New York or Chicago or Boston; but dammit if it doesn’t come into itself with the most gentle, determined spirit. It’s amazing to watch. Manhattan rushes; Los Angeles is more methodical. But on either side of the country, at the end of the day the same amount of work gets done. It’s something I always take home with me when I’m out here; rising to meet the day with the sun in your heart and a desire to kick professional ass aren’t incongruous ideas.
Long Beach is no different. The Scuba Show had record numbers of people walk through the doors of the Convention Center, but insomuch as we noticed the huge amount of traffic throughout the trade show floor, there was nothing hurried about it. Almost everyone had a smile on their face, and for every hater that felt the need to come by our booth and explain to us why our project will fail because, ahem, their own project failed, there were hundreds more who kept coming back to us to sit and chat and express their excitement for what we’re doing. I have never seen this kind of how-can-I-get-involved attitude anywhere in the country. People wanted to know what they could do to be a part of LiquidAssets.tv, whether it be getting the buzz out in conversation with friends or networking with like-minded people. At Long Beach more than at any other show I watched people take ownership over LiquidAssets.tv in a way that transcended just the four weeks of shooting. We realized here that this is an idea, a company, a collective - that is able to (and will) reach beyond borders and creative territory that we hadn’t even thought of. Turns out we just needed to go West to find that out.
I don’t know if it’s the lack of bad weather or the luxury of a year-round local diving season, but you people rock. Even you, tough guy…and there were a few of you. I love California and I love Long Beach. It’s the only dive show that I build in a couple extra days in town for and I simply cannot wait to come back.
Oh, and as long as I’m thinking about it…
I want to thank the entire staff of The Auld Dubliner for putting up with our rowdiness three years in a row and never asking us to leave before closing time. You could have several times, but you didn’t. There’s that laid-back, easygoing spirit again. Although I’m sure our bar tab didn’t hurt, either. Let us simply say that we’re a production company that’s making a show about diving and drinking. We’ve been doing our research thoroughly on both ends.
I feel like I talked to thousands of you this weekend. As I watched so many people sit enraptured in day-long film festivals, in countless booths, and around the waterfront you reminded me of just how important it is to embrace your passion. You can’t expect to inspire anyone else until you’re inspired yourself.
Dream out loud, people. At high volume.
Thanks for being my friends…all 10,000 of you. We’ll see you next year.
Currently listening to: The Doors - LA Woman
Wow.